Los Angeles practices LCP interruptus
By John
Davis
The City of Los Angeles is
flouting the law, to the detriment of all of us coastal dwellers.
Chapter 1, Section 30006, of the California
Coastal Act reads as follows: “The Legislature further finds and declares
that the public has a right to fully participate in decisions affecting coastal
planning, conservation and development; that the achievement of sound coastal
conservation and development is dependent upon public understanding and support;
and that the continuing planning and implementation of programs for coastal
conservation and development should include the widest opportunity for public
participation.”
Los Angeles is
doing something different. The Coastal Act requires local governments to create
Local Coastal Programs (LCPs) to ensure maximum public participation in the
planning process. The LCP must also be designed to reflect and implement the
stringent environmental and access protections of the
Act.
The City has completed only half
of the Venice LCP, but is allowing development at such a rapid rate that it will
prejudice the Coastal Commissions ability to certify a LCP consistent with the
Coastal Act.
The City plan is a rush
to change the face of our fair community forever without letting the public
participate. Huge luxury apartment complexes and angular buildings called
“artists lofts” are going up all over Venice and the City is
allowing other buildings to exceed the legal heights required by the certified
Land Use Plan.
Development sprung up
before a Land Use Plan for Venice was ever
certified.
Until a Land Use Plan is
certified by the Coastal Commission, all permits for coastal development must be
approved by the Coastal Commission.
The
two condo towers, euphemistically known as the Regatta and Water Terrace, stand
as a developer’s view of what Venice should be. They were approved by the
City years before the certification of the Venice Land Use Plan. The Coastal
Commission turned a blind eye to this huge problem and let the City get away
with it. It appears that the original project should not have been permitted
until the Venice Land Use Plan was certified. Perhaps new hearings are in
order.
And now as a further insult to
the good citizens of Venice, the City is again cutting the public out of the
process. According to Theresa Henry of the Coastal Commission, Los Angeles has
not submitted the final part of the LCP to the State.
In fact the City has not even
submitted a draft of the required Implementation Plan to complete the Venice LCP
in over two years. And it is no wonder, the City has not held one required
workshop or public hearing.
Recently
the local Sierra Club Regional Group filed and won a lawsuit against the City to
stop it from illegally destroying one of the only original wetlands in Venice.
The City had planned to use heavy equipment to dam and dig up the wetlands,
letting the sea life die slowly in the sun. We won and still have our
wetland.
But the fight is not over, the
City is still appeasing the interests of large scale developers and hanging the
community out to dry.
We are all
watching a movie about Venice. Special effects are being used to transform small
homes and businesses into a huge gated luxury community of bizarre trophy homes
overnight. And we the people are just
watching.
It is not too late to
preserve our unique coastal heritage. People of all walks of life have a right
to live in Venice. We are a Renaissance culture of free thinkers perfectly
capable of protecting our own
interests.
So it is time to demand that
the City begin holding public workshops and hearings on the final component of
the LCP, the Implementation Plan. Those of us who call Venice home will settle
for nothing less.
Posted: Sat
- February 1, 2003 at 08:13 PM